What´s meant to be will always find a way - Chapter 4 - Tumbleweed wagon
Author: NYWCgirl
Fandom: White collar
Pairing: None
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Mozzie, Elizabeth, June, Satchmo
Warning/genre: Wild West AU, injuries, jail, bullet wound
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author´s notes: Inspiration for this fic was given by
ladyrose42 and it fills the ‘blood loss’ square on my H/C Bingo card
Word Count: ~1650
Summary: Fifty ways Peter and Neal could have met.
Story can also be found on AO3.
A tumbleweed wagon was a jail on wheels used to take prisoners to a more permanent jail or prison. They called them ‘tumbleweed wagons because like their namesake, The Russian Thistle, they seemed to wander aimlessly across the territory picking up bad guys.
Peter takes a sip from his ale, it is something imported, from Glasgow or something, and it is a nice change from the swill he gets in their own town saloon. He is in town to get some supplies and to buy something nice for Elizabeth who will be celebrating her birthday in two weeks. He knows the store owner and had something imported from France, he hopes she will like it. He was never good at these things.
He finishes his drink and walks outside into the afternoon heat. The worse of it is over, but it is still some time before the winds will pick up and cool everything down. A caravan is headed his way and it is creating quite the spectacle. Locals gather in the street to have a look at the tumbleweed wagon that passes.
When it passes Peter, he can see there are only two men in the wagon, probably chained to the floor. They pass Peter and head to a part of town where they can spend the night. Peter waits until the wagon has passed, before he takes the reigns of his horse and mounts him. If he drives fast, he can be home before darkness sets in.
* * *
Peter hears commotion outside and gets up from his desk. He squints against the sun when he leaves the building and sees it is the wagon from yesterday. They appear to be heading his way. When it stops, he steps off the porch and walks up to the marshal.
‘Peter Burke.’
‘US deputy marshal Bass Reeves. You the local sheriff?’
‘That´s me. How can I help you?’
‘I was told the famous ….. gang operates from these territories. Though I would check out if I can take them with me to Fort Smith.’
‘You’re taking these prisoners to Fort Smith?’
‘Yep, hauling them for trial before Judge Isaac Parker.’
Peter nodded, it didn´t look good for these man. Judge Isaac Parker wasn´t called the ‘hanging judge’ for nothing. He looks towards the back of the wagon and it is clear the prisoners aren´t fairing very well.
‘Let´s bring them inside and put them in lockdown inside, that way they are out of the sun.’
‘Nah, they’re fine.’
‘Well, that one, doesn´t look fine.’
Peter points at one of the prisoners who seems to have passed out on the floor. He approaches the wagon and can see the man was shot and lost a lot of blood.
‘Your prisoner is injured.’ He calls out to the marshal.
‘Yeah, it doesn´t matter.’
‘Judge Parker doesn´t like it when his prisoners die, you know he will make you pay for his funeral, do you? Get them out so I can take care of him. You can take the other one into one of the empty cells.’
‘You seriously planning on wasting resources on some piece of thrash?’
‘Humor me. What’s his name?’
‘Neal Caffrey.’
The Marshal rolls his eyes but comes over with the key to open the wagon and to release the chains on the prisoners. They both bring in the first man, locking him up in the cell. Peter makes sure he has a bucket to relief himself and fresh water to drink and he can see the man immediately starts guzzling down the water.
Peter hops in the wagon and checks the man over. He is still alive, but barely. They carry him indoors and put him on the cot in another cell. Peter dribbles some water in the man´s mouth, but he doesn´t respond at all. He checks the wound in the back of shoulder, but there is no exit wound. He frowns, the man was shot in the back.
‘If we don´t get the bullet out, he will not make it much longer.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Why don´t you take a load off and check yourself in the saloon, it isn´t much, but they have clean beds, hot baths and good food. I will take care of him.’
‘Suit yourself, Sheriff.’
The Marshall stomps off and Peter calls one of the boys that is drawn in by the wagon.
‘Bert, take care of the horses, bring them to the stables and water them.’
‘Yes, Sheriff.’
‘And you Franky, go fetch my wife and tell her I need her sewing kit.’
‘Yes, Sheriff.’
Franky runs off, while Bert walks up to the horses to unlock them from their tack. Peter walks back inside and pours water in a bucket so he can clean up the prisoner. The wound is clearly already infected and heat is pouring from the man. No wonder he is unconscious.
‘Peter, are you alright?’ El calls from afar.
‘Yes, I am fine, I need your help with a prisoner.’ He hollers back.
Elizabeth enters with a basket, probably her sewing kit. She quickly checks over the man and frowns, ‘he is in a bad shape, Peter. We must get the bullet out and then try to stop the infection.’
‘I know, what do you need?’
‘Boil some water, so I can sterilize the thread and needle and put him on the table. And wash your hands before you touch him.’
Peter goes outside and washes his hands before getting water for the kettle. Once it is on the fire, he lifts Neal and carries the wounded man to the table. He takes some rope and ties the man´s hand and feet to the table legs. This is going to hurt and he doesn´t want El hurt. He cuts the shirt open. Not good, by the looks of it, the bullet tore through the shirt fabric and some of it is lodged in the wound. They will have to dig it out if they don´t want the man to die from a massive infection.
He takes his clean handkerchief, bless El for making him take a clean one with him in the morning and puts it between the man´s teeth. He is probably going to wake once they start digging.
Elizabeth checks the wound and frowns, the wound is infected. She takes a pair of tweezers and starts digging in the wound. It must hurt, because Peter can see Neal starting to wake up. His eyes are squinted close and he starts struggling against the restraints.
‘Relax Caffrey, we are trying to take care of you.’
‘Peter, get the Laudanum from my basket and feed him some drops.’
Peter quickly takes the glass vial and drops in the pain killer. Neal starts to relax again and stills while Elizabeth digs through the wound to find pieces of cloth and the bullet. It doesn´t take her long before she is satisfied. Pouring some black pepper in the wound and sewing it shut. She wraps Neal’s torso before looking up at Peter, ‘that is all that I can do, it is up to him now.’
‘Thanks hon.’
They wash their hands and while Peter returns Neal to his cell, Elizabeth cleans the table and floor. She tells Peter she is going home to prepare dinner and kisses him goodbye.
Peter mounts his horse and rides to the Saloon to find the Marshall. He explains Neal´s condition and the Marshall is disappointed to lose a bounty but Peter tells him he will pay the bounty of two dollar and that once Neal is healed he will bring him to Fort Smith. They agree on the deal, the Marshall happy not to be saddled up with a dead prisoner.
The next day the Tumbleweed wagon leaves town with one prisoner less.
* * *
Peter and Elizabeth nurse Neal to health in their home. Elizabeth convinced Peter the prison is no place to heal and Peter agreed. They took Neal in and nursed him through the raging fevers, but he pulls through in the end and after days of worrying and cleaning the wounds, Neal´s eyes flutter open.
Elizabeth smiles and encourages him. Slowly startling blue eyes like her own open.
‘Hi Neal, my name is Elizabeth and you are safe’.
Neal’s eyes lazily look around before they start to close again.
‘Come Neal, you need to stay awake a little longer, you need to drink some water.’
Neal’s eyes slowly meet hers and he opens his cracked lips.
‘Good’, she drops in some water and when he swallows, she keeps slowly feeding him water until it is clear he is spend, telling him to go asleep again.
It takes a couple of days to nurse Neal to a state where he can keep his eyes open longer than a couple of minutes. He is just awake when Peter enters the house. Since there are only two rooms, they put a cot in the main living space. Neal´s eyes immediately flic to Peter´s Sheriff´s badge and he flinches.
‘It’s OK Neal, take it easy, you’re in my home.’
Neal looks a bit surprised.
‘Why?’
‘Nobody should die like a dog, and you were badly injured. I couldn´t let them drag you to Fort Smit in the state you were in.’
Neal nods. Peter hands him a cup with water and he drinks it slowly before trying to speak.
‘And now what?’
‘Well, you are wanted for bond forgery, maybe you can help me.’
‘With what, forgeries?’
‘No of course not, with finding forged bonds.’
‘You are offering me a position as deputy?’
‘Well, I wouldn´t stretch it that far, but yeah, help me. Elizabeth is a good cook, you will get room and board.’
‘OK, let´s try it.’
Both men shake hands.
Fandom: White collar
Pairing: None
Characters: Neal Caffrey, Peter Burke, Mozzie, Elizabeth, June, Satchmo
Warning/genre: Wild West AU, injuries, jail, bullet wound
Spoilers: none
Rating: Gen
Author´s notes: Inspiration for this fic was given by
ladyrose42 and it fills the ‘blood loss’ square on my H/C Bingo card
Word Count: ~1650
Summary: Fifty ways Peter and Neal could have met.
Story can also be found on AO3.
A tumbleweed wagon was a jail on wheels used to take prisoners to a more permanent jail or prison. They called them ‘tumbleweed wagons because like their namesake, The Russian Thistle, they seemed to wander aimlessly across the territory picking up bad guys.
Peter takes a sip from his ale, it is something imported, from Glasgow or something, and it is a nice change from the swill he gets in their own town saloon. He is in town to get some supplies and to buy something nice for Elizabeth who will be celebrating her birthday in two weeks. He knows the store owner and had something imported from France, he hopes she will like it. He was never good at these things.
He finishes his drink and walks outside into the afternoon heat. The worse of it is over, but it is still some time before the winds will pick up and cool everything down. A caravan is headed his way and it is creating quite the spectacle. Locals gather in the street to have a look at the tumbleweed wagon that passes.
When it passes Peter, he can see there are only two men in the wagon, probably chained to the floor. They pass Peter and head to a part of town where they can spend the night. Peter waits until the wagon has passed, before he takes the reigns of his horse and mounts him. If he drives fast, he can be home before darkness sets in.
* * *
Peter hears commotion outside and gets up from his desk. He squints against the sun when he leaves the building and sees it is the wagon from yesterday. They appear to be heading his way. When it stops, he steps off the porch and walks up to the marshal.
‘Peter Burke.’
‘US deputy marshal Bass Reeves. You the local sheriff?’
‘That´s me. How can I help you?’
‘I was told the famous ….. gang operates from these territories. Though I would check out if I can take them with me to Fort Smith.’
‘You’re taking these prisoners to Fort Smith?’
‘Yep, hauling them for trial before Judge Isaac Parker.’
Peter nodded, it didn´t look good for these man. Judge Isaac Parker wasn´t called the ‘hanging judge’ for nothing. He looks towards the back of the wagon and it is clear the prisoners aren´t fairing very well.
‘Let´s bring them inside and put them in lockdown inside, that way they are out of the sun.’
‘Nah, they’re fine.’
‘Well, that one, doesn´t look fine.’
Peter points at one of the prisoners who seems to have passed out on the floor. He approaches the wagon and can see the man was shot and lost a lot of blood.
‘Your prisoner is injured.’ He calls out to the marshal.
‘Yeah, it doesn´t matter.’
‘Judge Parker doesn´t like it when his prisoners die, you know he will make you pay for his funeral, do you? Get them out so I can take care of him. You can take the other one into one of the empty cells.’
‘You seriously planning on wasting resources on some piece of thrash?’
‘Humor me. What’s his name?’
‘Neal Caffrey.’
The Marshal rolls his eyes but comes over with the key to open the wagon and to release the chains on the prisoners. They both bring in the first man, locking him up in the cell. Peter makes sure he has a bucket to relief himself and fresh water to drink and he can see the man immediately starts guzzling down the water.
Peter hops in the wagon and checks the man over. He is still alive, but barely. They carry him indoors and put him on the cot in another cell. Peter dribbles some water in the man´s mouth, but he doesn´t respond at all. He checks the wound in the back of shoulder, but there is no exit wound. He frowns, the man was shot in the back.
‘If we don´t get the bullet out, he will not make it much longer.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Why don´t you take a load off and check yourself in the saloon, it isn´t much, but they have clean beds, hot baths and good food. I will take care of him.’
‘Suit yourself, Sheriff.’
The Marshall stomps off and Peter calls one of the boys that is drawn in by the wagon.
‘Bert, take care of the horses, bring them to the stables and water them.’
‘Yes, Sheriff.’
‘And you Franky, go fetch my wife and tell her I need her sewing kit.’
‘Yes, Sheriff.’
Franky runs off, while Bert walks up to the horses to unlock them from their tack. Peter walks back inside and pours water in a bucket so he can clean up the prisoner. The wound is clearly already infected and heat is pouring from the man. No wonder he is unconscious.
‘Peter, are you alright?’ El calls from afar.
‘Yes, I am fine, I need your help with a prisoner.’ He hollers back.
Elizabeth enters with a basket, probably her sewing kit. She quickly checks over the man and frowns, ‘he is in a bad shape, Peter. We must get the bullet out and then try to stop the infection.’
‘I know, what do you need?’
‘Boil some water, so I can sterilize the thread and needle and put him on the table. And wash your hands before you touch him.’
Peter goes outside and washes his hands before getting water for the kettle. Once it is on the fire, he lifts Neal and carries the wounded man to the table. He takes some rope and ties the man´s hand and feet to the table legs. This is going to hurt and he doesn´t want El hurt. He cuts the shirt open. Not good, by the looks of it, the bullet tore through the shirt fabric and some of it is lodged in the wound. They will have to dig it out if they don´t want the man to die from a massive infection.
He takes his clean handkerchief, bless El for making him take a clean one with him in the morning and puts it between the man´s teeth. He is probably going to wake once they start digging.
Elizabeth checks the wound and frowns, the wound is infected. She takes a pair of tweezers and starts digging in the wound. It must hurt, because Peter can see Neal starting to wake up. His eyes are squinted close and he starts struggling against the restraints.
‘Relax Caffrey, we are trying to take care of you.’
‘Peter, get the Laudanum from my basket and feed him some drops.’
Peter quickly takes the glass vial and drops in the pain killer. Neal starts to relax again and stills while Elizabeth digs through the wound to find pieces of cloth and the bullet. It doesn´t take her long before she is satisfied. Pouring some black pepper in the wound and sewing it shut. She wraps Neal’s torso before looking up at Peter, ‘that is all that I can do, it is up to him now.’
‘Thanks hon.’
They wash their hands and while Peter returns Neal to his cell, Elizabeth cleans the table and floor. She tells Peter she is going home to prepare dinner and kisses him goodbye.
Peter mounts his horse and rides to the Saloon to find the Marshall. He explains Neal´s condition and the Marshall is disappointed to lose a bounty but Peter tells him he will pay the bounty of two dollar and that once Neal is healed he will bring him to Fort Smith. They agree on the deal, the Marshall happy not to be saddled up with a dead prisoner.
The next day the Tumbleweed wagon leaves town with one prisoner less.
* * *
Peter and Elizabeth nurse Neal to health in their home. Elizabeth convinced Peter the prison is no place to heal and Peter agreed. They took Neal in and nursed him through the raging fevers, but he pulls through in the end and after days of worrying and cleaning the wounds, Neal´s eyes flutter open.
Elizabeth smiles and encourages him. Slowly startling blue eyes like her own open.
‘Hi Neal, my name is Elizabeth and you are safe’.
Neal’s eyes lazily look around before they start to close again.
‘Come Neal, you need to stay awake a little longer, you need to drink some water.’
Neal’s eyes slowly meet hers and he opens his cracked lips.
‘Good’, she drops in some water and when he swallows, she keeps slowly feeding him water until it is clear he is spend, telling him to go asleep again.
It takes a couple of days to nurse Neal to a state where he can keep his eyes open longer than a couple of minutes. He is just awake when Peter enters the house. Since there are only two rooms, they put a cot in the main living space. Neal´s eyes immediately flic to Peter´s Sheriff´s badge and he flinches.
‘It’s OK Neal, take it easy, you’re in my home.’
Neal looks a bit surprised.
‘Why?’
‘Nobody should die like a dog, and you were badly injured. I couldn´t let them drag you to Fort Smit in the state you were in.’
Neal nods. Peter hands him a cup with water and he drinks it slowly before trying to speak.
‘And now what?’
‘Well, you are wanted for bond forgery, maybe you can help me.’
‘With what, forgeries?’
‘No of course not, with finding forged bonds.’
‘You are offering me a position as deputy?’
‘Well, I wouldn´t stretch it that far, but yeah, help me. Elizabeth is a good cook, you will get room and board.’
‘OK, let´s try it.’
Both men shake hands.